Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal of her request for a dropped kerb. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council refused her application for a dropped kerb, saying the reasons it gave her were unfair and inconsistent, because of the nature of other applications that had previously been granted on her road. Ms X said the Council’s actions caused her stress and she now wants the Council to change its decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council refused Ms X’s request for a dropped kerb because it said her drive did not comply with the Council’s application requirements, as to the dimensions of her drive.
7. Ms X complained about this and provided the Council evidence, which showed her drive had the same dimensions as other drives on her road that had been approved for a dropped kerb in the past two years.
8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council. The Council’s website says that an application will be refused if certain criteria is not met and the website sets out the relevant criteria. The Council measured Ms X’s drive and found it did not meet the Council’s criteria for approval.
9. Although I accept Ms X disagrees with the Council’s decision, the Ombudsman cannot question or criticise the outcome of a council’s decision provided the council has acted without fault in making it.
10. Each application for a dropped kerb must be assessed on its own merits and applications need to meet the current criteria to be approved. We can only consider if there was fault in how the Council applied its current criteria to Ms X’s application. The decision to grant approval to other applicants under a previous criteria is not relevant to the Council’s decision to refuse Ms X’s application because the Council has correctly applied its current policy to Ms X’s request.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman